Kinetics of the metabolic effects, distribution spaces and lipid-bilayer affinities of the organo-chlorinated herbicides 2,4-D and picloram in the liver

[Display omitted] •2,4-D increases glycolysis and decreases gluconeogenesis in the liver.•Picloram inhibits gluconeogenesis.•2,4-D and picloram impair energy metabolism and diminish cellular ATP levels.•2,4-D presents low affinity for the hydrophobic lipid bilayers.•Picloram presents high affinity for the hydrophobic lipid bilayers. Tordon® is the commercial name of a mixture of two organo-chlorinated herbicides, 2,4-D and picloram. Both compounds affect energy transduction in isolated mitochondria and the present study aimed at characterizing the actions of these two compounds on liver metabolism and their cellular distribution in the isolated perfused rat liver. 2,4-D, but not picloram, increased glycolysis in the range from 10 to 400 μM. The redox potential of the cytosolic NAD+-NADH couple was also increased by 2,4-D. Both compounds inhibited lactate gluconeogenesis. Inhibitions by 2,4-D and picloram were incomplete, reaching maximally 46% and 23%, respectively. Both compounds diminished the cellular ATP levels. No synergism between the actions of 2,4-D and picloram was detected. Biotransformations of 2,4-D and picloram were slow, but their distributions occurred at high rates and were concentrative. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that 2,4-D presented low affinity for the hydrophobic lipid bilayers, the opposite occurring with picloram. Inhibition of energy metabolism is possibly a relevant component of the toxicity of 2,4-D and of the commercial product Tordon®. Furthermore, the interactions of 2,4-D with the membrane lipid bilayer can be highly destructive and might equally be related to its cellular toxicity at high concentrations.